The Open Era
Germany · born Pinneberg, 1968 · right-handed · Wimbledon champion 1991
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1
Wimbledon singles title, 1991
1
Wimbledon doubles title, with John McEnroe, 1992
4
Grass singles titles, 1991 to 1994
19-17
Fifth set of the 1992 Wimbledon doubles final
78%
Career win rate on grass, per Tennis Abstract
Born in Pinneberg, West Germany, on 18 October 1968, Stich was ranked 80th a year before he won Wimbledon in 1991, aged 22, as the sixth seed. In 1992 he won the Wimbledon doubles with John McEnroe, Olympic doubles gold in Barcelona with Boris Becker, and the Grand Slam Cup. In 1993 he won the ATP Tour World Championships unbeaten, beating Pete Sampras in the final, rose to world No. 2 in November and helped Germany win the Davis Cup. He lost major finals to Andre Agassi at the 1994 US Open and Yevgeny Kafelnikov at the 1996 French Open. He retired after Wimbledon in 1997, founded the Michael Stich Foundation in 1994 and has been tournament director of the ATP event in Hamburg since 2009. He entered the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 2018.
| Wimbledon singles | Champion 1991. Semi-final 1997; quarter-finals 1992 and 1993; fourth round 1996 |
|---|---|
| Wimbledon 1991 | Semi-final: beat the holder and top seed Stefan Edberg 4-6, 7-6 (5), 7-6 (5), 7-6 (2) without breaking his serve. Final: beat Boris Becker 6-4, 7-6 (4), 6-4 |
| Wimbledon doubles | 1992 with John McEnroe: beat Jim Grabb and Richey Reneberg 5-7, 7-6 (5), 3-6, 7-6 (5), 19-17 in a final that ran into the Monday |
| Other grass singles titles | Rosmalen 1992 (beat Jonathan Stark 6-4, 7-5); Queen's 1993 (beat Wayne Ferreira 6-3, 6-4); Halle 1994 (beat Magnus Larsson 6-4, 4-6, 6-3). Runner-up to Marc Rosset at Halle in 1995 |
| Other grass doubles titles | Rosmalen 1990 with Jakob Hlasek; Halle 1997 with Karsten Braasch, his last doubles title |
| Last Wimbledon | 1997: beat Jim Courier and reached the semi-final, losing to Cédric Pioline in five sets |
| Wimbledon | ||
|---|---|---|
| 1991 | Men's singles | |
| 1992 | Men's doubles | with John McEnroe |
| 's-Hertogenbosch (Rosmalen) | ||
| 1990 | Men's doubles Rosmalen Grass Court Championships | with Jakob Hlasek |
| 1992 | Men's singles Rosmalen Grass Court Championships | |
| Halle | ||
| 1994 | Men's singles | |
| 1997 | Men's doubles | with Karsten Braasch |
| Queen's Club | ||
| 1993 | Men's singles | |
Leading grass titles only: the grass majors, tour-level grass events since 1968 and the leading grass championships before 1968. †single source; ‡ sources disagree. Roll of champions
"I got the feeling I could touch every ball I wanted to."
The person behind the player.
Wimbledon 1991 · Fourth round
Against Alexander Volkov, Stich led two sets to one, lost the fourth 6-1 and trailed 5-3 in the fifth. A net cord then stopped Volkov reaching two match points on his own serve. Stich won the next four games, and the match.
Source: Tennis365Wimbledon 1991 · Semi-final
Stefan Edberg, the holder, won the first set and did not lose a single game on his serve all afternoon. Stich won three tiebreaks and the match 4-6, 7-6, 7-6, 7-6. Edberg said afterwards: "It's a pity. I had a few chances."
Source: Detroit Free Press (Mitch Albom)Wimbledon 1991 · Final
Stich won on his first championship point with a forehand winner off Becker's serve, dropped to his knees and covered his eyes before embracing Becker at the net. "I just played great tennis and stayed cool all over the match," he said. "It looked like Boris was much more nervous than me."
Source: Tennis365London 1991 · German House
That evening Stich was due on a panel at the German House. Becker answered the door in flip-flops, playing the butler, and later served sandwiches from a silver platter. Stich barely registered him: "I didn't care. I would also have been happy if I had sat alone on a mountain with the trophy."
Source: tennisnetWimbledon 1992 · Doubles final
A year after his singles title, Stich and John McEnroe met Jim Grabb and Richey Reneberg in a doubles final that went to a fifth set and on into the Monday. They won it 19-17. It was Stich's only major doubles title, and no man has since won both the singles and the doubles at Wimbledon.
Source: WikipediaWimbledon 1997
Stich and Becker announced their retirements at Wimbledon in 1997 within 48 hours of each other; Becker came back in 1999, Stich did not. In 2021 he passed up the 30th anniversary of his title ("I don't live in the past"), and on having only one Wimbledon he said: "A win is better than no win."
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